When many doubted whether return of Patel in the squad after eight years will fulfil the purpose or not, wonderful innings of the wicketkeeper-batsman gave the answer itself at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali in opposition to England on Day 4 of the 3rd Test. By means of great batting, he made India attain the feeble target set by English team, which included Alastair Cook, the young man Haseeb Hameed, Moeen Ali, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Ben Stokes, Adil Rashid, Gareth Batty and James Anderson.

When Gareth Batty resumed his play a day ago with the objective to attain substantial runs to help his team go strong, he was taken by surprise by Jadeja who could not let him open his account. Root started to bat to add to 36 runs, what he obtained the previous day. And he was able to do that. Jos Buttler, who arrived on the crease post dismissal of Batty, impressed with a six and four. He seemed to release pressure but before he would have gotten success in achieving what was needed, a delivery by Jayant Yadav trapped him. Jadeja was fast in pouching the ball and showing Buttler the way back to pavilion. He scored 18 runs off 18 balls.

Some considerable runs were added by Haseeb Hameed, who looked promising by delivering what was expected from him. But then Root lost his wicket to Jadeja post scoring 78 runs in 179 balls, along with six boundaries. Chris Woakes sent the ball towards the boundary for four times but was caught behind thanks to excellent catch by Parthiv Patel in Shami’s over. Woakes scored 30 runs in 47 deliveries. Adil Rashid’s wicket to Shami spread broad smile on the face of Indian camp as the batsman was dismissed without contributing any run in the team’s total score. The 19-year-old right-handed batsman Hameed was not out at the score of 59 (4 x 6 and 6 x 1). Nine extras were bowled by Indian bowlers. Ashwin got three wickets, J Yadav, Jadeja and Shami got two wickets each. U Yadav did not get any wicket but displayed great fielding.

A good catch by Rahane in the slip was certainly the game changer in view of the fact that it made Root to depart when England required a player to stay on the 22 yards pitch for some more time since not so many runs were put by them on the scoreboard. England second innings finished at 236 runs. India knew that the target was an easy chase. Many even predicted that the match will get finished before the third session. But some good batting by a few England players did not let that assumption come true. Murali Vijay and Parthiv Patel came to open innings for the hosts. A wrong shot made the opener Vijay to depart on a naught. He played a delivery that could have been left. Cook placed Root in the slip and he took an easy catch that gave England something to cheer and be hopeful for the rest of the match.

However, their dream to avoid a humiliating defeat was crushed by Parthiv Patel, who played a splendid not out knock of 67 runs off just 54 balls, with the help of 11 4s and a biggie. A comeback is difficult than the debut but this Indian batsmen struck shots at different parts of the Mohali ground. The way he produced opportunity to get singles and twos by placing the ball into the gaps was commendable. His teammates and support staff praised his show by clapping as soon as Patel pocketed a fifty. In between, Cheteshwar Pujara lost his wicket to Adil Rashid at 25 runs. Though his innings was short, it included four 4s. India were only a few runs away when Virat Kohli came to give desired support to Patel. He was not out at 6 runs when India consecutively pocketed victory, which gave them unassailable lead of 2-0.

Now, whatever be the outcomes at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai that are to host 4th and 5th Tests, respectively, it is for sure that India are not going to lose the series. Excellent batting, fielding and bowling made the Men in Blue take lead of 2-0 and hope for more wins to pulverize England completely. It would not be wrong to mention that the hosts showcased their play as a unit that resulted in another success for them in a row. Cook would definitely try to come up with new strategies to survive in Indian conditions. Despite being a key batsman of his team, he couldn’t display the kind of game that was expected from him. England wanted frequent wickets when Indian players came to bat but weren’t successful.

Player of the Match award went to Ravindra Jadeja, who amazed both with bat and ball. Test cricket sports different mood as compared to 50-50 and 20-20 over match. Players got to be wise with shot selection to make their stint long. With success of Indian team in the third Test, England have been landed into do or die situation. Any further defeat will take away the chance of levelling the series too. Virat Kohli anticipated his team to perform as it was the matter of gaining grip. The teammates did what was expected, making India stay a step ahead of them each time.

Same sort of momentum is likely in the future as well since England’s stay in the country is long. Use of DRS method in this Test came with some interesting results. Even though India are enjoying the lead, they are not overconfident as being aware with the potential of England, who can bounce back anytime. The tourists only need to utilise the talent they house and come up with excellent bowling and batting attacks. Thanks to great stability by lower-order batsmen despite losing wickets on time in first innings, India scored well that proved adequate to put stress on England, who faced horrendous time in lately concluded Test, losing it by a huge margin. Saving wickets will be important for them now onwards if they wish to stay go back home with a number of wins in their hands.